Developmental Disorders Meeting the Challenges in the Developing World

rain disorders—neurological, psychiatric, and developmental—now affect at least 250 million people in the developing world, and this number is expected to increase as more people live to old age. Yet public and private health systems in developing countries have paid relatively little attention to brain disorders, concentrating instead on the major communicable diseases. The negative attitudes, prejudice, and stigma that often surround many of these disorders have contributed to this neglect. Lacking proper diagnosis and treatment, millions of individual lives are lost to disability and, in some cases, death. There are other costs as well, both personal and economic, which are borne by the families of the affected individuals, by their communities, and by their societies at large. Adding to the tragedy is the fact that there are effective and affordable ways to treat or even prevent many brain disorders that remain unexplored in developing country health systems.